Grave diggers shortage hits Bulawayo

GRAVE diggers working at Bulawayo cemeteries are overwhelmed by burials after resorting to manual work with a target of two graves per week each following the breakdown of the Bulawayo City Council (BCC)’s excavators.

The city council is now weighing two options to resolve the problem — engaging the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) to tender the hiring of alternative grave digging equipment or purchasing spare parts.

Chronicle spoke to two grave diggers at Luveve Cemetery who said the demand for graves, especially over weekends, outstrips demand forcing them to work overtime.

“The situation was very bad around October and November when temperatures were very high and we were expected to dig two graves per employee each week. On days that demand for graves is high we would dig three graves per week and that is a lot of work considering that it had not yet rained and the ground was very hard,” said the worker who asked not to be named.

“He said the situation was compounded by some residents’ expectations that cemetery employees are expected to back fill graves at the end of a burial.

“When the machines are working, it’s easy to back fill graves after a burial but some residents still expect us to do that manually, which is extra work for us considering that we are short staffed at the moment.”

When a Chronicle news crew visited Luveve Cemetery, the remaining functional grave digging machine was being driven back to the cemetery offices after it developed a fault.

“The machine is old and constantly breaks down. Today it managed to dig just three graves and we are back to digging manually again. It’s hard to say when the machine will be fixed,” said the worker.

“The weekends are busy as a result of the number of bodies that come from South Africa,” said another employee.

In council’s latest minutes, Ward 10 Councillor Khalazani Ndlovu applauded the department for carrying out their duties and producing graves manually but suggested that their workload should be reduced to one grave per week per worker.

Councillor Sikhululekile Moyo of Ward 17 said she was concerned about the current crisis regarding grave production and noted that Luveve Cemetery produces more graves compared to Umvutsha Cemetery.

“Most of council’s cemetery staff are contract workers since 2019 and there is a need to employ the workers permanently as a way of motivating them. The festive season requires more graves and residents wants council workers to backfill graves,” said Clr Moyo.

Director of Health Services Dr Edwin Mzingwane confirmed that council has been producing graves manually since the breakdown of grave digging machines.

“Council is considering hiring equipment and the other alternative is procuring the machines, which is a major challenge. If the repairs are not done by January 2025, council will have to review cemetery staffing levels.

“Currently one cemetery labourer is required to produce two graves per week,” said Dr Mzingwane.

Last year BCC made US$4 522 from 118 tombstones and monuments that were erected in the city’s six cemeteries — Luveve Extension, West Park, Hyde Park, Athlone, Luveve Old and Umvutsha.

Each tombstone or monument costs US$38.

In November last year alone, 40 bodies were buried in the city’s cemeteries with some coming from South Africa, Harare, Umguza, Lupane and other places.

Eight bodies, two females and six males, were cremated in the same month. In December 334 bodies were buried in all Bulawayo cemeteries.